Porn actress who tested positive for HIV ‘stronger than ever’

As the porn industry grapples with its latest health crisis, an adult-film actress who has tested positive for HIV says she is overwhelmed by the support she has received since the news went public.

The Free Speech Coalition, a Canoga Park-based trade organization for the adult-film industry, announced a nationwide moratorium on adult shooting Wednesday after officials learned of the HIV test results for the actress, whose screen name is Cameron Bay.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the positive energy, well wishes and the love,� Bay wrote to fans on Twitter on Saturday.

“I hope everyone is well and unaffected... And healthy,� Bay, 28, said in another message. “I’m still coming to terms with all this but thanks to everyone showing love I feel stronger than ever.�

Mark Schechter, owner of Adult Talent Managers LA and Bay’s agent, told The Times that the actress went in Monday for her regular screening for sexually transmitted diseases and the results came back inconclusive. She went in for a second test Tuesday, providing a new blood sample. Preliminary results from that sample came back Wednesday as potentially positive for HIV.

Bay’s last test before Monday -- which was negative -- took place July 27, Schechter said, and she had done shoots since.

“Cameron is obviously distraught over this conclusive information provided to her today, and yet she has been 100% cooperative with the medical personnel, strictly in the interest of ensuring the fastest possible partner notification for the benefit of all concerned,� he said in a statement. “Cameron has been a model citizen acting responsibly at this most difficult time. Her courage should be lauded.�

Bay added in a statement of her own: “As difficult as this news is for me today, I am hopeful that no other performers have been affected. I plan on doing everything possible to assist the medical professionals and my fellow performers. Following that, my long-term plan is to take care of myself and my health.�

Officials with the Los Angeles County’s department of public health confirmed that the agency had been notified of the positive HIV test result, as required by law.

The Free Speech Coalition said there was “no evidence whatsoever� that Bay had contracted the infection on a film set, but critics of the industry pointed to her case as further evidence that condoms should be required during filming.

The industry contends that mandating condoms on set, as the city and county of Los Angeles have done, harms business and is unnecessary because performers undergo regular testing.

Last week, a U.S. district judge ruled that the condom requirement was constitutional. Vivid Entertainment, an adult-film company that challenged the rule, said it would appeal.

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